Most of us live a fast-paced life – back-to-back meetings and a daily checklist of things to do have become the “new norm”. But studio Slow Green is the exact opposite. As founder Connor Su intends, this preserved plant store is a true oasis along Joo Chiat Road. It’s seemingly just another regular shophouse, but inside reveals an airy “greenhouse”. Rather than flourishing shrubs though, the bulk of these plants are already preserved – only the occasional landscape features live plants.
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I felt safe because mountains don't judge.
Connor crafts each by hand. It first started as an easy-breezy hobby, a way for him to spend his free time meaningfully outside of his full-time finance job. It’s an introspective process in a way. He’s always been connected to nature – some of his fondest memories stem from his younger days, when he would spend time in the mountains. As he says, “I felt safe because mountains don’t judge”. Similar to basking in nature, in forging each of these preserved plant landscapes, he could simply let himself be.
But after placing just two of these plants for sale, online orders flooded in. What was once a humble hobby swiftly turned into a brick-and-mortar store with a team of four part-timers. Connor even gave up his past career to work on Slow Green, with his wife Sabrina joining in to help on weekends. Since launching the studio in August 2021, they’ve sold these preserved plant landscapes to more than 500 customers.
We can see the appeal.
Each piece is thoughtfully crafted with a range of stones and plants – there’s no discrimination here, they don’t believe in favouring “rare” species. The preserved plants hail from Japan, wood slate stones from Greece, and driftwood from Indonesia and Vietnam. It’s a myriad of nature from all corners of the world.
In the end, we just decided to roll up our sleeves and do it ourselves.
They bring in fresh moss straight from the Netherlands to preserve it themselves though, as a matter of making sure they get the textures and colours exactly right:
“There are probably only less than five reliable preserved moss manufacturers in the world, and unfortunately, many of their products, the textures and colours, don’t fit our needs. So in the end, we just decided to roll up our sleeves and do it ourselves.”
All good things come slow.
While the process of piecing together one of these plants might take a while, Connor firmly believes that “all good things come slow. After all, “nature takes you in, no matter what you are and how you feel”. And it’s true: this tiny piece of nature, despite simply being a decor piece, lends a quiet calm – a much-needed break from the frenzy of life.
The Old Guard ($1,199) is one of Slow Green’s bestsellers, made from preserved moss, white crispum flowers and Japanese tea tree leaves. It’s not a statement piece by any means, but instead, a subtle showcase of nature. For a more affordable piece, Baby’s Tears ($139) features preserved ball moss from the Netherlands, baby’s breath flare, and Japanese asparagus sprengeri leaf – all positioned carefully on a polished slab of Indonesian driftwood.
All preserved pieces appear fresh but are “biologically inactive”: it's the same procedure that scientists use for herbariums. There’s zero maintenance required, and there’s no need to water them either. If anything, they thrive best in dry conditions.
Visit Slow Green at 406B Joo Chiat Road or check out their range of preserved plant landscapes.
